author

 
Menu
Search
 
November 22, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access
Alice Gordenker

Meta

Alice Gordenker
Alice Gordenker writes the "So, What the Heck is That?" column, providing in-depth, carefully researched explanations of the things foreigners find so puzzling about Japan. Her work has been modified as a textbook for Japanese university students called "Surprising Japan" (Shohakusha, 2012).
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / LIFE LAB
Sep 27, 2005
Breathe deep, don't worry, it's only O2
As soon as I accepted the assignment I realized I had a problem. My task was to test Tokyo's latest fad, the oxygen capsule. The trouble is I'm claustrophobic. Elevators make me tense. When watching reruns of "Star Trek," I have to avert my eyes when anyone gets sealed into a stasis chamber. There was...
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Sep 20, 2005
Maru boats
Dear Alice,
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Aug 18, 2005
Jizo
Dear Alice,
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Jul 21, 2005
Yutai-ken
Dear Alice,
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Jun 16, 2005
Owaraji
Dear Alice,
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
May 19, 2005
PET bottles
Dear Alice,
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Apr 21, 2005
A pack of dog statues
Dear Alice,
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Mar 17, 2005
Tails of alley cats
Dear Alice,
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Feb 17, 2005
Gold objet on top of Super Dry Hall
Dear Alice,
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Feb 11, 2005
Brr -- diving in Atami in winter
As any scuba diver knows, when the diving itch hits, you just gotta scratch. But what if the itch strikes in midwinter when you have neither the time nor funds to fly to a tropical resort? Not to worry. Not only is it possible to dive around mainland Japan in the winter months, it can even be done on...
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Jan 21, 2005
Sugidama
Dear Alice,
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Dec 16, 2004
Reflections on rich learnings we all shared
When I began writing this column, I thought it would be a one-year gig. My editors thought so too. But things went well, and for nearly four years now I've reported in this space about my children's experiences in Japanese school.
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Nov 18, 2004
The right way to teach values in school
How do you teach a child right from wrong? I certainly don't have all the answers. In our home, we're still working on why you can't hit your brother, even when he's being deliberately annoying -- as he has been all this week, answering any direct question with nonsense ("What do you want for dinner?"...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Oct 21, 2004
Disabled children at regular schools: inclusion isn't easy
When we moved to Japan and enrolled our sons in local schools, both they and I had a lot to learn. Every day was a challenge, and I was so focused on the basics that I missed a lot of things that should have been obvious. Like the fact that there was a disabled child in my son's kindergarten.
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Sep 16, 2004
Reading-out-loud renaissance falls upon deaf ears
I'm a fan of "Doraemon," the long-running children's television show about a blue robot cat from the future, who lives with an average family on the outskirts of Tokyo. The Japanese is relatively easy to understand, and I love Doraemon's magic pocket, from which he pulls amazing tools like the dokodemo...
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Aug 19, 2004
City kids bring diversity to countryside schools
I was a little nervous when we went to pick up my son, who was returning from an extended stay in the Japanese countryside. He's 13, an age when kids go through tremendous physical and emotional changes. There have been days when he was a different person at dinner than he was at breakfast. And when...
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Jul 15, 2004
Japan's kindergartens could serve families better
Procreation just ain't what it used to be.
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Jun 17, 2004
When the summer vacation is just too long
Just try to find something for foreign kids to do in Japan in the summer. There aren't many options, even if your children speak Japanese, as mine do. The most difficult period of all is the five or six weeks after international schools close down but Japanese schools are still in session.
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
May 20, 2004
Schools sounding false alarms over child safety
A few weeks ago my younger son came home from school all excited. "Mom! Guess what?" he shouted from the entranceway as he kicked off his shoes. "The ku gave us a gohan buza!" I had been hard at work on an article and was a little slow making the transition to his eclectic mix of languages. Why would...
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Apr 15, 2004
When foreign children run afoul of the law
My kids generally don't mind it when I write about them in this column, although on occasion my older son has accused me of exploiting him for professional gain. It happened again when he heard the topic for today's column. "You're writing about foreign kids who get in trouble with the police?" He rolled...
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world
mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER